Closure-applying tool

ABSTRACT

A tool for application of a closure onto the neck of a container having a collar in which the tool is formed with a casing having a cylindrical cage within the casing formed of a plurality of fingers circumferentially arranged to form a sleeve section which defines a cylindrical passage therethrough that is wider at its lower end and means resiliently engaging the fingers at their midportions and at their lower ends for resiliently urging the fingers inwardly in the sleeve section, an annular punch slidable axially within the sleeve section formed by the fingers and having a widened lower end portion, and a pusher means operatively engaging the punch for axial movement therewith.

United States Patent Primary Examiner'lheron E. Condon Assistant Examiner-E. F. Desmond Anomey-McDougalL Hersh, Scott and Ladd ABSTRACT: A tool for application of a closure onto the neck of a container having a collar in which the tool is formed with a casing having a cylindrical cage within the casing formed of a plurality of fingers circumferentially arranged to form a sleeve section which defines a cylindrical passage therethrough that is wider at its lower end and means resiliently engaging the fingers at their midportions and at their lower ends for resiliently urging the fingers inwardly in the sleeve section, an annular punch slidable axially within the sleeve section formed by the fingers and having a widened lower end portion, and a pusher means operatively engaging the punch for axial movement therewith.

PATENTEB JUN22 an 3.585.787

' sum 2 or 3 4 FIG.4

CLOSURE-APPLYING TOOL This invention relates to a tool for applying a cap to a container in which the neck portion is formed with the collar.

The tool is applicable in particular to thin metal caps of the type applied at the neck of a bottle by a drawing operation with the skirt being applied tightly to engage the outer face of the neck and secured in position by pressing a lower rolled edge to engage the underside of the collar.

It is known that caps of the type described can be applied by means of a tool having an outer sleeve which is formed with a lateral frustoconical stop along its lower edge and along which a rod carrying a pusher is adapted to slide. An annular punch, adapted to slide on the rod, is separated from the pusher by a cylindrical spring formed of spring strips provided with a projection on their outer surface. Together, these strips form a collar designed to slide over the frustoconical stop of the outer sleeve. On their inner surfaces, the spring strips are provided with cutout portions which together form a recess occupied by an annular helical spring.

When this type of tool is lowered onto a thin cap positioned on the neck of the container, the pusher bears on the cap to hold it in position while the annular spring is applied against the upper part of the skirt of the cap. As the tool continues its downward movement, the spring bears on the skirt to apply it firmly to the neck. However, as the neck becomes increasingly wider, the spring strips of the annular punch are forced apart which, as a result of the cooperation between the collar of the punch and the lateral frustoconical stop of the sleeve, causes the cylindrical spring to contract. After the annular spring has passed the widest part of the neck or collar, it is released by the action of the cylindrical spring and the frustoconical stop, and presses down the rolled edge portion to beneath the collar to secure the cap in its mounted relation.

Although this tool functions properly to locate the cap, it is expensive and difficult to service because of the frequent need to replace the spring strips of the punch.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tool for fitting a cap to a container formed with a collar in the neck portion and in which the tool is of simple construction and inexpensive and easy to service. These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevational view of a tool embodying the features of this invention with the elements shown in their relative position aT an initial stage of operation;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view of the tool shown in FIG. 1 in an intermediate stage of operation;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the fingers provided with their two annular rings;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line a-a of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevational view of a more elaborate modification of a tool embodying the features of this invention.

In accordance with the practice of this invention, the tool comprises a casing having a cylindrical cage therein containing fingers, which together form a sleeve having a widened lower end portion, with each finger being provided on its lateral outer surface with spaced recesses one of which is midway and the other towards the lower end of the finger. These upper and lower recesses together form annular grooves on the outer face of the sleeve which are adapted to be occupied by an elastic ring for resiliently urging the fingers towards their inner position. Mounted concentrically and arranged to slide in both the collar and the fingers is a pusher and a punch in the form of a sleeve widened at its lower end.

With reference now to the drawings for a more detailed description, the tool for mounting a cap 8 to a container 9 having a neck 91 provided with a collar 92 comprises a casing l, a cage 2 within the casing containing an expandable sleeve 3 formed of a plurality of fingers 31, 32 arranged in side-by-side relation to define a circular pattern, a cylindrical punch 4 arranged to slide within the cylindrical opening formed in the casing, the cage and the sleeve, and a pusher rod 5 arranged to slide in the punch with the movement of the pusher rod and punch being parallel to the axis 10 of the tool.

The casing l is formed with a lower portion 11 and an upper portion 12 both of which are provided with contiguous openings which define an inner cylindrical space with an axis 10 widened at its lower end and a recess for the cage 2.

The cage 2 is also formed of two parts, namely, an annular collar 22 dimensioned to be received within the cylindrical space in the casing and provided with a tab 21 or inwardly extending flange at its lower end, and an upper removable ring 23. The annular collar is formed with an inner cylindrical space and an opening 24 through the tab of the collar in axial alignment with a similar passage through the bottom wall of the casing.

The expandable sleeve 3, which is accommodated within the casing, consists of a series of fingers 32 which together form a cylindrical sleeve which defines a cylindrical opening therebetween having a greater diameter at the lower end by reason of the decreasing width at the lower end portion of the fingers to provide anannular recessed portion 321 about the inner circumference. On its outer surface, each finger is provided with vertically spaced recesses 322 and 323, one of which is situated substantially midway while the other is located toward the lower end of the finger. The recesses 322 form a annular groove about the cylindrical section formed by the fingers for receiving an elastic annular ring 38, while the lower recesses 323 form an annular groove about the lower end portion of the cylindrical section for receiving an annular elastic ring 39. The rings are in the form of elastic members, such as may be fabricated of natural or synthetic rubber, preferably containing silicones. The fingers may be formed of metal or a metal alloy, preferably treated to have high flexure strength or they may be fonned of synthetic resin such as a polyamide. In its position of rest, the sleeve 3 is in the form of a cylindrical member having an opening therethrough which widens in the downward direction and corresponds to the inner space of the casing and cage.

The annular punch 4 is arranged to slide in the space defined by the fingers. The lower end of the punch is formed with the outer portion cut away or recessed to provide a curvilinear surface such as a quarter annular surface 41.

The cylindrical pusher rod is formed with a straight flat base portion 511 and is dimensioned slidably to be received within the punch 4 and both the pusher rod and punch move parallel to the axis 10 of the tool.

The operation of the tool will hereinafter be described with reference to the positioning of a thin metal cap 8 having a flat central section 81 joined by a recessed portion 82 to a semiannular peripheral portion 83 which projects upwardly beyond the base and which is joined by a cylindrical skirt 84 to an inwardly rolled edge 85. It will be understood that the tool can be adapted to other types of thin metal caps, for which purpose the position of the punch relative to the pusher rod should be adapted from the outset to the shape of the cap before it is applied.

In a first stage of operation, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the cap is placed on the neck 91 of the container 9. In its starting position, the tool is arranged with the pusher rod 5 resting on the base 81, the punch in contact with the peripheral zone 83, and with the cage 2 placed in such a vertical position that the skirt of the cap is located within the widened portion defining the annular space 321-24. In the second or intermediate stage of operation, reciprocal movement has been effected between the container and the tool which corresponds to a movement in the direction of the arrow of the container. The pusher rod is initially displaced until its lower surface 511 is substantially aligned with the inner part of the end of the punch. Thereafter, the pusher and the punch together are displaced so that the skirt is forced in the downward direction relative to the container and comes into contact with the unwidened part of the sleeve 3. The central ring 38 is then flattened between the inner face of the collar 22 and its recess in the sleeve 3 which pivots about this ring, as shown in FIG. 2. The lower rolled edge 85 is thus forced to beneath the collar 92 of the container 9 to complete the mounting of the cap on the container.

The container is released simply by pulling it in the direction opposite to the arrow I00. The sleeve returns to its original position as do the punch and the pusher rod.

The tool shown in FIG. may be directly mounted for automatic operation in a controlled machine. lt functions solely by action on the casing 1.

To this end, the relative movements of the pusher rod and the punch to one another and to the casing l are limited by a set of stops and controlled by two springs.

The upper end, the upper part 12 of the casing is provided with a screw-threaded plug 121. On its inner surface, the plug carries a vertical cylindrical section 122 limited by a lower surface 123 which acts as a stop. This cylindrical section is also used to center a spring 54 for controlling the pusher with one end of the spring bearing against the plug while the other end bears against the upper end portion of the pusher rod. On its inner surface, the plug is in contact with another spring 44 which is adapted to control the punch, with one end of the spring bearing against the underside of the plug while the other end bears against the top side of the pusher rod. Both springs are located within the space between the plug and the punch and pusher rod with the spring 44 being more powerful and of larger diameter than the coil spring 44. The upper part of the casing also carries a stop 124.

The punch 4 is formed on its outer surface with a stop 42 positioned to cooperate with a stop 124 on the casing so as to limit the stroke of the punch in the downward direction and it is also formed on its inner surface with a stop 43.

The pusher S is in two parts including a lower part 51 and an upper part 52 screwed to the lower part. The lower part carries the surface 511 which is adapted to bear on the cap and a lateral stop S12 adapted to cooperate with the inner stop 43 of the punch to limit the downward movement of the punch relative to the pusher rod. At its upper end, the upper part carries a cylindrical section 521 for guiding the spring 54 which rests on the upper part of the pusher rod and resiliently urges it downwardly relative to the lower surface of the plug 121. The upper surface 522 of this cylindrical section functions as a stop positioned to cooperate with the lower stop 123 on the casing to limit the upward movement of the pusher rod relative to the casing. The lower surface 523 of the upper part of the push rod forms a stop which cooperates with the upper surface 41 of the punch to limit the upward movement of the punch relative to the pusher.

The other components of the tool are identical with those described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The described tool is fixed by its casing 1 to a manual or automatic machine capable of imparting translatory movement parallel to its axis 10, that is, in the vertical direction. The machine initially imparts a downward movement to the casing 1 so that it covers a container 9, such as a bottle, having a cap placed on the neck thereof.

While the pusher and the punch are out of contact with the cap, the tool is in the position shown in FIG. 5, which corresponds to FIG. 1. The springs 44 and 54 are relaxed and the punch is against its lower stop relative to the casing with the stops 124 and 42 in contact, and the pusher is against its lower stop relative to the pusher with the surfaces 523 and 41 being in contact. As the tool moves downwardly, the pusher comes into contact with the flat part 81 of the cap while the punch comes into contact with the peripheral zone 83, such contacts being made either simultaneously or in immediate succession with the pusher making contact just before the punch.

As the tool continues to move downwardly, the spring 54 is compressed while the more powerful spring 44 remains relaxed. The pusher stops its downward movement while the punch continues to descend, forcing back the peripheral zone 83 of the cap. The skirt 84 of the peripheral zone is in turn applied firrnly against the neck by the fingers 32.

When the stops 512 and 43 come into contact, the punch lS locked in position and the spring 44 is compressed while the ring 38 is flattened and the fingers 32 pivot around it, the lower portions being drawn back towards the axis 10 by the lower ring 39 and the lower roll 85 is forced under the collar of the container. At the same time, the surfaces 522 and 123 come into contact to stop the machine. To release the tool it is merely sufficient to impart an upward translatory movement to the casing l.

lt will be apparent from the foregoing that l have provided a simple and efficient tool properly to position a thin metal cap in sealing relationship to enclose a container having a collar formed in the neck portion thereof.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction, arrangement and operation without departing from the spirit of the invention especially as defined in the following claims.

lclaim:

l. A tool for applying a cap onto the neck of a container having a collar comprising a casing, a cylindrical cage mounted within the casing formed of a plurality of fingers circumferentially arranged to form a sleeve section defining a cylindrical passage therethrough which is narrowed at its upper portion and widened at its lower end portion by an amount sufficient to receive the collar on the neck having a cap thereon and means resiliently engaging the fingers at their midportions and at their lower end portions for resiliently urging the fingers inwardly in the sleeve section, an annular cylindrical punch mounted for reciprocal axial movement within the sleeve section and relative thereto between operated and retracted positions and having a widened lower end portion, and a pusher means operatively engaging the punch and slidable axially between operated and retracted positions to cause the narrowed portion of the sleeve section to deform the cap inwardly in sealing engagement with the collar as the collar and cap are advanced into the cylindrical passage on displacement of the tool relative to the container.

2. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the means resiliently engaging said fingers comprises circumferentially aligned vertically spaced recesses in the outer surfaces of each of said fingers, with one recess located at about the mid portion of each finger and another in the lower end portion of each finger to define upper and lower annular grooves, and an elastic ring member seated within each of said annular grooves.

3. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the fingers are of a metal or metal alloy having high surface strength.

4. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the fingers are of a synthetic resin.

5. A tool as claimed in claim 4 in which the synthetic resin is a polyamide resin.

6. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the lower annular surface of the punch is widened and shaped to the form of a quarter annulus.

7. A tool as claimed in claim 1 which includes means constantly urging the pusher in the downward direction relative the casing towards operated position and stop means for terminating relative movement when in operated position.

8. A tool as claimed in claim 7 in which the means constantly urging the pusher comprises a coil spring.

9. A tool as claimed in claim 7 which includes means constantly urging the punch in the downward direction relative the casing and the pusher towards operated position with a force greater than the force operating on the pusher, and stop means for terminating relative movement of the punch when in operated position.

10. A tool as claimed in claim 9 in which the means constantly urging the punch comprises a coil spring. 

1. A tool for applying a cap onto the neck of a container having a collar comprising a casing, a cylindrical cage mounted within the casing formed of a plurality of fingers circumferentially arranged to form a sleeve section defining a cylindrical passage therethrough which is narrowed at its upper portion and widened at its lower end portion by an amount sufficient to receive the collar on the neck having a cap thereon and means resiliently engaging the fingers at their midportions and at their lower end portions for resiliently urging the fingers inwardly in the sleeve section, an annular cylindrical punch mounted for reciprocal axial movement within the sleeve section and relative thereto between operated and retracted positions and having a widened lower end portion, and a pusher means operatively engaging the punch and slidable axially between operated and retracted positions to cause the narrowed portion of the sleeve section to deform the cap inwardly in sealing engagement with the collar as the collar and cap are advanced into the cylindrical passage on dIsplacement of the tool relative to the container.
 2. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the means resiliently engaging said fingers comprises circumferentially aligned vertically spaced recesses in the outer surfaces of each of said fingers, with one recess located at about the mid portion of each finger and another in the lower end portion of each finger to define upper and lower annular grooves, and an elastic ring member seated within each of said annular grooves.
 3. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the fingers are of a metal or metal alloy having high surface strength.
 4. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the fingers are of a synthetic resin.
 5. A tool as claimed in claim 4 in which the synthetic resin is a polyamide resin.
 6. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the lower annular surface of the punch is widened and shaped to the form of a quarter annulus.
 7. A tool as claimed in claim 1 which includes means constantly urging the pusher in the downward direction relative the casing towards operated position and stop means for terminating relative movement when in operated position.
 8. A tool as claimed in claim 7 in which the means constantly urging the pusher comprises a coil spring.
 9. A tool as claimed in claim 7 which includes means constantly urging the punch in the downward direction relative the casing and the pusher towards operated position with a force greater than the force operating on the pusher, and stop means for terminating relative movement of the punch when in operated position.
 10. A tool as claimed in claim 9 in which the means constantly urging the punch comprises a coil spring. 